Edward Davey, Member of Parliament for Kingston and Surbitonhttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web
enYour choice on Thursday - me or the Conservativehttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1093
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<p>Please vote for me on Thursday because:</p>
<ul>
<li>I am the local candidate - I have lived here for 20 years - and you can trust me to fight for our area</li>
<li>I have record of <a href="http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1082">protecting our NHS</a> and <a href="http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1089">fighting for local schools</a>&nbsp;(see <a href="http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1088">this</a> as well).</li>
<li>Only Lib Dems can stop an extreme coalition of either UKIP with the Tories, or Labour with the SNP.</li>
</ul>
<p>Reasons for not voting Conservative:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Conservatives would just go too far, with £50 billion of extra cuts</li>
<li>The Conservatives are unable to win outright and are already flirting with a deal with UKIP</li>
<li>The Conservatives have plumped for an unknown candidate from Westminster, who has no local record</li>
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CampaignsSat, 02 May 2015 08:25:44 +0000webmaster1093 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/webNick Clegg in Surbitonhttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1091
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What's happeningWed, 29 Apr 2015 10:59:19 +0000webmaster1091 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/webEd Davey champions renewable energy and the best deals for consumershttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1094
<p>Ed Davey is proud of what he has achieved as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.</p>
<p>Under his guidance over £37 billion has been invested in renewable energy sources, such as wind and tidal power. As a result 460,000 ‘green’ jobs have been created and the low carbon economy has been growing since 2010.<br /><br /></p>
<!--break--><!--break--><p>The amount of electricity generated from renewable sources has trebled since 2010 and now supplies around one fifth of all the UK’s electricity. The UK is now the world leader in offshore wind.</p>
<p>Solar panels have taken off, thanks to green energy auctions which brought down the prices dramatically. In fact, 99% of all the solar panels in the UK were installed since the last election.</p>
<p>Biomass, which creates electricity from plants, is another form of renewable energy. By 2010 11% of all UK’s electricity could come from this source.<br /><br />And the dramatic proposals for a the first tidal lagoon in the world at Swansea Bay have enormous potential for the future.</p>
<p>In Government the Lib Dems have set up the <a href="http://www.greeninvestmentbank.com/">Green Investment Bank</a>. &nbsp;The Bank has attracted an amazing £5 billion of private investment, which in turn is being used to back more than 45 major green projects, from improving the energy efficiency in social housing to managing waste.</p>
<p>Ed has also worked hard for consumers, by keeping energy bills down. A package of policies ensured that in 2014 the Big 6 energy companies froze their bills and in 2015 are actually cutting them. He has also been encouraging consumers to switch suppliers to get the best deals. Many local councils have been running collective switching schemes which enable them to get the best deals for their residents, saving consumers more than £20 million.</p>
<p>On top of that over a million homes have been insulated under the Green Deal scheme in just two years, and two million households have benefitted from the Warm Homes Discount. As a result of these and other schemes fuel poverty has decreased every year since 2010.<br />&nbsp;</p>
What's happeningTue, 21 Apr 2015 23:00:00 +0000webmaster1094 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/webTories wasting taxpayers’ money for school in wrong place and wrong settinghttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1088
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<h5><span style="font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.3em;">Davey demands Education Funding Agency re-think “silly” plan on new primary for Surbiton based in Kingston - and proposes alternative plan</span></h5>
<p>Commenting on the news that Michael Gove’s Education Funding Agency has bought an expensive office block on Kingston High Street supposedly for a new Surbiton primary school, Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat candidate for Kingston and Surbiton, said:</p>
<p><strong>“We desperately need 4 new primary schools across Kingston, but Michael Gove’s Education Funding Agency keeps spending taxpayers’ money on properties that are unsuitable and sometimes even in the wrong place. Given how urgent this is, it’s not just incompetent and wasteful, it’s frankly a betrayal of local families and their children.</strong></p>
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<p>“This latest nonsense – to buy an office block on a busy road in Kingston for a Surbiton primary – simply beggars belief. This is Gove’s free schools policy gone crazy: it’s high time local Conservatives joined local Liberal Democrats in condemning these silly ideas. How can you seriously propose the new Surbiton Primary Academy opens on Kingston High Street? It’s not even a suitable site for a new Kingston primary.</p>
<p>“I’ve have now personally spoken to the Chief Executive of the Education Funding Agency to make my opposition to this proposal clear – and offered him a more sensible site.</p>
<p>“I am proposing the Education Funding Agency purchases South Place in Surbiton off the local NHS mental health trust, as it’s up for sale, and combines this with the adjacent council-owned properties on Browns Road and Alpha Road. This would make a perfect site for a 2-form entry primary and a modernisation of the children’s centre.</p>
<p>“My primary school proposal has the benefit of this site actually being in Surbiton, near where the greatest demand for school places is, and is only a short safe walk from Fishponds Park for the children. It’s also almost certainly likely to be far better value for the taxpayer.</p>
<p>“I’ve now contacted the NHS Trust, GEMS – the free school sponsor for Surbiton – and the council about this proposal, as well as the Education Funding Agency. It’s high time the EFA and Council stop messing about, wasting money and just got on with the job of delivering the new primary schools local families need.”</p>
What's happeningTue, 14 Apr 2015 18:02:40 +0000webmaster1088 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/webClimate change – Ed Davey’s role in reducing carbon emissions globallyhttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1095
<p>As Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Davey has taken on a global leadership role.</p>
<p>Having set targets for the power industry at home he is pleased to be able to announce that the UK now has the least energy intensive economy in the G7. Overall greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 15% since 2010, and the UK is now committed to reduce by at least 40% by 2030. Coal production has dropped by 10%.</p>
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<p>In Europe Ed set up the EU Green Growth Group, encouraging other countries to follow the UK’s lead. In response the US and China made their own commitments, so there is every hope for an internationally binding deal at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris later this year.</p>
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What's happeningMon, 06 Apr 2015 23:00:00 +0000webmaster1095 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/webEd Davey's school places pledgehttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1089
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<p>Ed Davey has launched a campaign to build four new primary schools across Chessington, Kingston, New Malden and Surbiton over the next five years.<br /><br />His plan follows on from Kingston's largest ever primary school expansion completed under the last Liberal Democrat Council, which saw 315 new permanent places created and a new school, with over £68 million invested.</p>
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<p>Ed's commitment to fight for local children and their families follows on from his first election back in 1997 when he ran under the slogan "Ed for Education".</p>
<p>He said: "Kingston's primary school age population just keeps going up. It's a tribute to our popular, successful schools, of course, but it means that we must keep investing and building."</p>
<p>But Ed Davey believes there are two big threats to providing the primary school places local families need - George Osborne's budget plans and Michael Gove's 'free schools' policy.</p>
<p>"It will take major new investment to build these schools. Yet with Conservative proposals to target the education budget for cuts, my campaign for new primary schools could be scuppered if the Tories win here.</p>
<p>"The second problem is the chaos and waste caused by Michael Gove's free schools policy. His Education Funding Agency keeps buying up office blocks in Kingston and saying they can be used for schools when they are in the wrong places and not suitable, with no play areas."</p>
<p>Ed is seeking urgent talks with the Education Funding Agency to persuade them to invest in local sites where new primaries are desperately needed.</p>
ArticlesMon, 30 Mar 2015 23:00:00 +0000webmaster1089 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/webWho can we trust to continue fighting for our local NHS in Kingston & Surbiton?http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1082
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<div>The National Health Service is dear to all our hearts. It’s where our family members were looked after when they were at their most vulnerable and where our children were born.</div>
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<div>No wonder it’s emerged as the key issue facing voters as we approach the election to choose Kingston’s next MP in May.</div>
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<div>With his record of fighting for Kingston and Surbiton’s NHS, from leading the campaign to save A&amp;E and maternity units at Kingston Hospital to his efforts to secure the funding to build the new Surbiton Health Centre, there’s no doubt that local Lib Dem Ed Davey has established his credentials as a champion for NHS services.</div>
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<!--break--><!--break--><div>And with the election just a handful of weeks away, he’s once again putting local health services at the centre of his offer to local residents.</div>
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<div>“There really is nothing more important than the quality and provision of health services for people living in our borough,” he explained.</div>
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<div>“It’s no wonder that our NHS are our most treasured public service and that it is held in such high esteem.</div>
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<div>But with an ageing population and new pressures to face, the NHS needs our support more than ever.</div>
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<div>“Since I was first elected we’ve had real success in fighting for Kingston’s NHS, whether securing new health centres in Chessington and Surbiton, fighting for the future of Kingston Hospital or stopping privatisation of some NHS surgeries.</div>
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<div>“But we must make sure that the local NHS continues to get the investment it deserves to face a new generation of patients and problems.</div>
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<div>“After years of under-investment in mental health, I’m delighted that Tolworth Hospital is set to receive £60m of additional investment, and I’m campaigning for a new walk-in centre for residents in Chessington and the south of the borough.</div>
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<div>“And most important of all, I want to deliver an additional £8bn of funding for the NHS in the next Parliament. The money has been requested by the head of NHS England, but apart from the Lib Dems, not a single party has pledged to do the same.”</div>
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<div>But Ed is also clear that despite the phenomenal endeavours of the NHS staff who run our hospitals and health centres, local health services face real threats.</div>
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<div>“I’m really worried about the Conservatives’ spending plans if they win a majority at the next election.</div>
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<div>“They want to slash another £50bn from public services, whatever the impact on our NHS and other vital services.</div>
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<div>“When I was first elected Kingston’s NHS had been neglected for decades and desperately needed investment.</div>
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<div>“If the Tories win in places like Kingston in May, I fear they will be on course to win a majority and drag our health services back to the poor services and waiting lists of the 1990s.”</div>
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ArticlesSat, 21 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000webmaster1082 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/webCreating more jobs and a stronger economy in Kingston & Surbitonhttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1083
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<h3>Ed Davey leads the battle to get the economy moving in Kingston &amp; Surbiton</h3>
<div>The last time we had a general election in Kingston &amp; Surbiton, back in 2010, the economy was still reeling from Labour’s economic crisis. Unemployment was sky high, the deficit was running out of control and local residents were feeling the squeeze.</div>
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<div>Now the economy is well and truly on the mend, thanks in no small part to the contribution of local MP Ed Davey and the Liberal Democrats in government.</div>
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<!--break--><!--break--><div>“It’s simple,” Ed explains when we ask how the Lib Dems made a difference to the economy.</div>
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<div>“The Conservatives wanted to make endless cuts to public services out of sheer ideology, while Labour planned to keep on borrowing and borrowing until Britain went bust.</div>
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<div>“Only the Lib Dems provided a voice of reason. That’s why we wanted to take sensible steps to reduce the deficit, while also</div>
<div>investing in more apprenticeships and giving money back to hard-pressed families.</div>
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<div>“Instead of following the Tory dogma of handing massive tax cuts to a few millionaires, we wanted to give a helping hand to</div>
<div>millions of low and middle income earners by increasing the personal allowance for income tax.</div>
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<div>“The Tories said it couldn’t be done, but we’ve managed to deliver an £800 tax cut for over 20m people.”</div>
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<div>As a result of the Lib Dems’ efforts to create jobs and get the economy moving employment is at an all time high, the deficit</div>
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<div>has been cut by a third and more than two million new apprenticeships have been created.</div>
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<div>But Ed argues that there is still much more to do to secure the economic recovery and ensure that everybody feels the benefit.</div>
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<div>“The next few years will be absolutely crucial,” he explains.</div>
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<div>“It’s now vitally important that we keep the economy moving and continue to help local families with the cost of living. That’s why I want to cut tax for low and middle earners by another £400 in the next Parliament.</div>
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<div>“But I’m really concerned that the Conservatives’ pledge to bring in another £50bn of cuts if they win a majority could do lasting damage to our economy and destroy the progress we’ve made. We can’t let them.”</div>
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What's happeningWed, 18 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000webmaster1083 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web“London Hospitals’ Accident & Emergency Units need the pressure taken off over-stretched ambulance paramedics” – London Lib Dem MPshttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1067
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<p>On a recent visit to the Waterloo HQ of London Ambulance Service, a delegation of London’s Liberal Democrat MPs called for major reform of the London Ambulance Service in order to free up cash for frontline ambulance crews.&nbsp;<br /><br />The Liberal Democrat MPs are calling for most back office functions of London’s blue-light services to be better integrated, to increase service quality to Londoners and to release funds for higher London weightings, to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis hitting London’s Ambulance Service.<br />&nbsp;</p>
<!--break--><!--break--><p>Ed Davey, said:<br /><br />“London’s paramedics are amongst the best in the world – so they are highly sought after elsewhere in the UK and indeed in other countries. With our frontline ambulance crews under massive pressure in recent years, it’s not surprising people have left the service.&nbsp;<br /><br />“The problem is, everyone from London Ambulance Service management to Boris Johnson and the relevant Whitehall departments have been too slow to recognise what’s been going on and to act for Londoners.&nbsp;<br /><br />“Although public finances are stretched, an ideal solution is staring us in the face – because it’s working elsewhere in the country and in other capital cities: improve performance and free up cash for your key staff by deeper collaboration between all the emergency services.”<br /><br />Deputy Leader of the House of Commons Tom Brake MP (Carshalton and Wallington) said:<br /><br />“This idea was talked about under Labour, but progress was painfully slow. And frankly in the last 4 plus years too those involved have dragged their feet. Elsewhere we seen this work - Gloucestershire with their “TriService” model have seen higher service quality for patients and the public, as well as efficiencies made to help the budget.&nbsp;<br /><br />“With our hospitals – especially our Accident and Emergencies – under so much pressure in London, we need all parts of the NHS ready and able to rise to that challenge. That can’t happen if we don’t invest in our frontline paramedics and relieve the pressure on London’s ambulance crews. With higher London weightings, we can tackle the recruitment and retention problem strategically and end the high turnover and high vacancy rate of recent years, which only adds to the pressure on the crews.”<br /><br />The Lib Dems believe the London Ambulance Service should be devolved to the GLA. This structure would be based on models elsewhere in the UK, that have been studied in detail already, and be similar to those run in New York and Paris, whereby ‘blue-light’ services are run under central, city control. This system would give the Capital much more control over its own emergency services and would position the Mayor well to give essential oversight.</p>
<p>The Lib Dem delegation of MPs to the London Ambulance Service included:<br /><br />Tom Brake, Lib Dem MP for Carshalton and Wallington<br />Vince Cable, Lib Dem MP for Twickenham<br />Ed Davey, Lib Dem MP for Kingston and Surbiton<br />Lynne Featherstone, Lib Dem MP for Hornsey and Wood Green&nbsp;<br />Simon Hughes. Lib Dem MP for North Southwark and Bermondsey<br />&nbsp;</p>
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What's happeningThu, 05 Mar 2015 12:38:26 +0000webmaster1067 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/webGreen energy auction paves way for 27 new renewables projects and thousands of green jobs across the UKhttp://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web/?q=node/1065
<p><em>This article first appeared in <a href="http://www.libdemvoice.org/ed-davey-mp-writes-green-energy-auction-paves-way-for-27-new-renewables-projects-and-thousands-of-green-jobs-across-the-uk-44811.html">Liberal Democrat Voice</a>:</em></p>
<p>This morning I announced the results of the first auction for green energy generation. The results are impressive – more clean energy at lower costs.</p>
<p>Thanks to this first renewable electricity competition of its kind, I have offered contracts to 27 renewable energy projects across the UK.&nbsp; Enough to power 1.4 million homes and save the equivalent carbon emissions of taking 2 million cars off the road.</p>
<p>The projects include offshore wind and onshore wind and solar, and will create thousands of green jobs.</p>
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<p>What’s even better are the lower prices our green competition achieved.&nbsp; The first ‘reverse auction’ ensured that prices were driven down. This meant we got&nbsp;more green energy from our budget than expected.</p>
<p>By bringing this auction forward by two years than planned just 3 years ago, we’ve saved £110 million a year.</p>
<p>And this latest boost to the UK’s green electricity revolution builds on our strong record of delivery since 2010.&nbsp; It’s important you have the facts as there is so much misrepresentation of our progress by Labour.&nbsp; Here are some facts to remember:</p>
<ul>
<li>Electricity generation from renewables has more than doubled since 2010.</li>
<li>Since 2010, an average £7 billion a year has been invested in renewables.&nbsp; Compare this to £3 billion a year in the previous parliament under Labour.</li>
<li>In 2013, almost £8 billion was invested in renewables – a record – though provisional figures suggest 2014 will be even better!</li>
<li>Britain’s first Green Investment Bank and first Community Energy Strategy.</li>
<li>Britain (Lib Dems!) in Europe leading to win more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets for 2030 to give even more confidence to the industry and investors.</li>
</ul>
<p>If that’s not enough then just last week I gave development consent for what will&nbsp; be the world’s largest offshore wind farm and today I’m opening England’s largest onshore wind farm.</p>
<p>This is a story of success by any measure. But we cannot be complacent and simply assume what Lib Dems in government have achieved on green energy will simply continue unchallenged.&nbsp;&nbsp; Under Labour their heavy hand of regulation will see investors press the pause button on UK plc – because they are not obliged to invest here.&nbsp; They will go where they see certainty, the sort of certainty that we have created.</p>
<p>As for the Conservatives, they continue to try to talk a good game on renewables, but their credibility is thin and their arguments fall apart when you look at the real world.&nbsp; Tories say they want to see renewables delivered in the cheapest way and I’m 100% with them on that.&nbsp; The trouble is if you look at what this reverse auction has delivered on prices then onshore wind and solar are clearly offering cheap green energy.&nbsp; As the Conservatives want to cap onshore wind, and they are not exactly promoting solar, you have to ask how they’ll plug their ‘renewables gap’ if they want to meet our legal obligations to tackle climate change and ensure consumer bills don’t go up.&nbsp; You can only see one scenario for Conservative energy policy –&nbsp; plugging the carbon gap with more expensive forms of green energy. Energy bills up under the Conservatives!</p>
<p>Lib Dems in government have delivered on green energy in a way that’s affordable to consumers. Yet the five green laws I proposed for the front page of our manifesto show we don’t believe the job is yet done.&nbsp; We want to go further and faster over the next five years. Nationally and globally our environmental challenges haven’t gone away.</p>
ArticlesThu, 26 Feb 2015 00:00:00 +0000webmaster1065 at http://www.edwarddavey.co.uk/web